Destiny

Chapter Twenty-Two: A Desperate Plea | Part 4

Created him? The implications spread from Thirtyx’s brain through his veins like a poison. That couldn’t be what Benn meant. He’d managed to accept so many absurd things about Grimmary and the palace, but this—

“We share energy with Iwabo Pfah,” Benn continued, monotone. “If we fight ourselves to extinction, they die too. And I guess they thought we were getting close a few regimes ago. So they did some of the wildest magic that’s ever been attempted on either planet, and they stitched together a baby destined to bridge the two worlds.”

“Now we know why Grimm has the traits of every Lamiakk species,” Rhea said quietly. “The wings, the hooves, the gills he hides behind his beard—those are from Iwabo Pfah.”

Thirtyx felt his head shaking. The logical part of him knew it explained a lot, but the emotional part hadn’t caught up. “You’re saying… Grimmary isn’t real?”

“Oh, he’s very real,” Benn said. “But he’s one of a kind, and he was born on Iwabo Pfah.”

Thirtyx closed his eyes and let his head droop, chin on his chest, as he wrapped his hands around his long ears. When the history professors taught about Grimmary’s conquest, they all said the same thing about his motives—that he felt he alone could bring a tumultuous world into a state of prosperity.

That he knew it was his destiny. 

“Grimm has obviously outlived most of the people who raised him, but he still has decent pull with their councils,” Benn continued. “If he loses the throne, Lamiakk could fall back to the brink of extinction, and Iwabo Pfah won’t want that. They have plenty of spies here—off-world agents hired to keep tabs on us—so they have to know about the threats on Grimm’s life. We just have to convince them it’s in their best interest to step in.”

Thirtyx found his voice faster than he thought he would. “Step in how, exactly?”

“We’re not sure,” Rhea said. “Even Grimm isn’t sure, but he’s confident they’d have their ways. So, if you’ll excuse me, I now have eight bars to draft a compelling argument addressing the dignitaries from another planet who were responsible for constructing my father.”

Benn seemed finished with his explanation, so he and Thirtyx fell silent to let Rhea concentrate.

Thirtyx reclaimed his book, but he didn’t retain a single word. Grimmary was a plant—not just from another world, but from a hostile world. Why did that feel like such a betrayal? It had been hard enough for him to accept that Grimmary had conquered the throne using a deadly form of magic only he could wield. And yet, he had accepted it. He’d convinced himself that the ends justified the means.

But to find out that Grimmary was merely a cog in a much larger scheme—one designed to serve Iwabo Pfah, not Lamiakk… Did Grimmary even care about the world he’d ruled for over 30 years?

Thirtyx shook his head. Of course he cared. He’d shown it time and time again with the thoughtful way he ruled. Besides, his chief mission was to nurture Lamiakk and keep it alive. 

Caring was his entire purpose.

At the desk, occasional flashes of gold signified that Rhea had teleported a new draft to Grimmary or had received notes in return. Benn dug a set of semiformal palace clothes from his trunk and painstakingly arranged them on his bed. Eventually, he retrieved Rhea’s from her room and spent a while charming them so that she could simply snap her fingers to don the full ensemble.

I feel bad for not helping her, Benn said inside Thirtyx’s mind. But Grimm was adamant that an extra opinion would get in the way. He’s been a little more strict about our roles lately.

Thirtyx thumbed the pages of his book—pages he hadn’t turned in a bar or more. Does that mean that, if you guys persuade Iwabo Pfah to help, you’ll be responsible for coordinating their spies?

Benn’s hand faltered in its task of levitating lint off the royal garments. His discomfort radiated through the telepathic connection. Probably. And I won’t be able to tell anyone what’s happening. Not you, maybe not even Rhea. I… I don’t like this, Thirtyx. He took a deep breath, and as he sighed, the fuzz he’d removed from his cloak settled back onto it. I always thought we’d have more time to learn our roles.

Thirtyx couldn’t even imagine.